Michigan – Part II

Wow! Have we ever enjoyed being in Michigan!

We arrived at Honcho Rest Campground on Wednesday afternoon. When checking in, our host mentioned the Evening on River Street event which takes place every Wednesday evening through the summer months.

We headed into Elk Rapids a little after 6pm. The place was already jumping – for a small town, anyway. There were two blocks roped off and all sorts of things going on in between.

A juggler was entertaining a group.

There was a large circle of people playing various drums and other percussion instruments. (Never quite figured that one out.)

Kids were playing with hula hoops.

And ribs were being smoked/grilled right there on the street. So we went inside where we could order the ribs. Julian and I split a full rack of baby backs. They were pretty good, too. We were going to get ice cream cones, but the line was just too long. We had ice cream at home, along with some Kahlua. (Yum.)

The next day we headed to Traverse City to take part in the National Cherry Festival.

I think events were scattered around the city. We did find the main booth area. We quickly decided the prices were inflated for the Festival, so we didn’t buy anything there.

We stopped at a road-side market on our way back to the campground. What a cool place it was and the proprietor was so nice. We bought several items including fresh cherries (oh, they were good) and, of course, chocolate  covered cherries.

We discovered that there was a casino about 10 miles from our campground. So on Friday, we headed over there. We had some luck early, but then it went a bit downhill. So far, our casino time hasn’t given us any additional money. Darn!

On Saturday we drove up the Old Mission Peninsula, primarily to check out the wineries there. Since it was early, our plan was to drive out to the end of the peninsula first then make stops on the way back.(BTW, this peninsula is only about 15 miles long, sticking into Lake Michigan.)

This is the old lighthouse on the tip of the peninsula.

Julian caught me in this photo, which also tells how we were standing on the 45th Parallel, half way between the Equator and the North Pole. (We crossed that line at least a half dozen times while in Michigan.)

Our first wine stop was at Chateau Chantal. We liked a couple of their wines and took some with us. That’s Lake Michigan in the background.

We stopped at two other vineyards, but didn’t see much of interest. So we headed off to find lunch. We stopped at one place, but it didn’t “wow” us, so we kept driving. We then stopped at the Jolly Pumpkin. Here’s the view from our table on the patio.

The food here was awesome. We shared a Warm & Cheesy BLT that was way better than your average BLT. We also had Crab Tater Tots, which were more or less crab cakes formed to look like tater tots. They were SO delicious. Great food!

Our last full day in Elk Rapids was spent driving around several of the smaller lakes in the area. Our “friend” at the roadside market told us where to go and the scenery was fantastic.

Sometimes you save the best for last. About a half mile from our campground was a restaurant that always (and I mean ALWAYS) had their parking lot full and overflowing. That’s always a good sign. Our “friend” at the market told us to be sure to eat there. So our last night in town, that’s where we went.

Pearl’s New Orleans Kitchen served us what we both consider one of the best meals we’ve EVER had. (And those of you who follow this blog know that we’ve had some fantastic meals in all our travels.) Even on a Sunday we had to wait about 45 minutes to get a table. So we sat at the bar and ordered Fried Green Tomatoes with our drinks. I swear I’ve never had better! The batter was crisp and crunchy and had a fabulous mix of spices.

When we got to our table, a delightful waitress took our order. Julian had crawfish Etouffee and I had Bronzed Shrimp Alfredo. This was no ordinary Alfredo dish. The shrimp was seasoned perfectly and the Alfredo sauce had that New Orleans flair. Totally yummy!

We hated to leave Michigan. We’d enjoyed it thoroughly and the weather could not have been nicer the whole 10 days we were there. We just may have to go back again some day.

Until next time, Happy Trails.